This invention generally relates to semiconductor processing methods for forming CMOS devices and more particularly to methods for forming self-aligned twin well structures.
In semiconductor fabrication, various layers of insulating material, semiconducting material and conducting material are formed to produce a multilayer semiconductor device. The layers are patterned to create features that taken together, form elements such as transistors, capacitors, and resistors. These elements are then interconnected to achieve a desired electrical function, thereby producing an integrated circuit (IC) device. The formation and patterning of the various device layers are achieved using conventional fabrication techniques, such as oxidation, implantation, deposition, epitaxial growth of silicon, lithography, etching, and planarization.
In the integrated circuit industry today, hundreds of thousands of semiconductor devices are built on a single chip. Every device on the chip must be electrically isolated to ensure that it operates independently without interfering with another. The art of isolating semiconductor devices has become an important aspect of modern metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) and bipolar integrated circuit technology for the separation of different devices or different functional regions. With the high integration of the semiconductor devices, improper electrical isolation among devices will cause current leakage, and the current leakage can consume a significant amount of power as well as compromise functionality. Among some examples of reduced functionality include latch-up, which can damage the circuit temporarily, or permanently, noise margin degradation, voltage shift and cross-talk.
Shallow trench isolation (STI), is a preferred electrical isolation technique especially for a semiconductor chip with high integration. STI can be made using a variety of methods including, for example, the Buried Oxide (BOX) isolation method for shallow trenches. The BOX method involves filling the trenches with a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) silicon oxide (SiO2) which is then etched back or mechanically/chemically polished to yield a planar surface. The shallow trenches etched for the BOX process are anisotropically plasma etched into the substrate, for example, silicon, and are typically between 0.35 and 0.8 microns deep. STI features are typically formed around the active device to a depth between 3000 and 20000 Angstroms.
Shallow trench isolation features with trenches having submicrometer dimensions are effective in preventing latch-up and punch-through phenomena. Broadly speaking, conventional methods of producing a shallow trench isolation feature include forming a hard mask over the targeted trench layer, patterning a soft mask over the hard mask, etching the hard mask through the soft mask to form a patterned hard mask, and thereafter etching the targeted trench layer to form the shallow trench isolation feature. Subsequently, the soft mask is removed (e.g., stripped) and the shallow trench isolation feature is back-filled, with a dielectric material, for example a CVD oxide.
In CMOS type semiconductor devices including N-channel transistors and P-channel transistors, the N-channel transistors need a P-substrate and the P-channel transistors need an N-substrate. The three approaches to forming the two different substrates are referred to as P-well, N-well, and twin-well processes. Single well structures have the disadvantage that the impurity concentration in the well region is frequently excessive resulting in increased capacitance and a decrease of the device operating speed. For high speed operating devices, it is preferable to use a twin well process whereby two separate wells are formed in into the semiconductor substrate, for example, a very lightly doped silicon thereby allowing the doping profiles in each well region (doped region) to be independently tailored thus avoiding the effects of excessive doping.
In general, the twin well includes structures such as a double diffused twin well, retrograde twin well and buried implanted for lateral isolation (BILLI) retrograde twin well structures. The double diffused twin well is formed by ion-implanting P-type and N-type impurities into a semiconductor substrate respectively using separate ion implantation masks. With this well structure, the impurity concentration in depth direction of the well is difficult to control. To overcome this problem, there have been developed the retrograde twin well and BILLI retrograde twin well structures in which P-type and N-type impurities are ion-implanted several times to better control the well concentration. In the retrograde twin well and BILLI retrograde twin well, their surface impurity concentrations are reduced to prevent punch-through and the impurity concentrations of their deep portions are increased to decrease the well resistance without varying the surface concentration which affects junction capacitance and substrate bias effect, improving resistance to latch-up.
In a typical twin-well process the semiconductor wafer, including, for example, a shallow trench isolation feature, is oxidized and capped with an implant blocking metal nitride layer, for example, silicon nitride (e.g., Si3N4). The metal nitride layer is then covered with a photoresist layer which is patterned and developed to provide a mask for selectively removing a portion of the metal nitride layer over the silicon substrate to form, for example, N-well regions. An implantation step using, for example phosphorous, is then implanted as an N-well dopant into the exposed regions of the lightly doped silicon substrate to form an N-well region. Following formation of the N-well region, a thick oxide layer is grown over the N-well region to form a second implant blocking layer. The photoresist mask is then stripped and the remaining portion of the first implant blocking metal nitride layer is etched off to reveal the silicon substrate overlying a P-well region self-aligned adjacent to the N-well region. A P-well dopant, for example, boron is then implanted into the exposed P-well region to form a self-aligned twin well structure.
One problem according to the prior art method is that the formation and removal of two implant blocking masks significantly adds to the device fabrication complexity and cost.
Therefore, there is a need in the semiconductor art to develop an improved implant blocking masking process whereby the number of required implant blocking masks are reduced thereby reducing the number of processing steps in forming a twin well structure.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved implant blocking masking process whereby the number of required implant blocking masks are reduced thereby reducing the number of processing steps in forming a twin well structure, while overcoming other shortcomings of the prior art.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects, and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention provides an improved method for forming a self-aligned twin well structure for use in a CMOS semiconductor device.
In a first embodiment according to the present invention, the method includes providing a substrate for forming a twin well structure therein; forming an implant masking layer over the substrate to include a process surface said masking layer patterned to expose a first portion of the process surface for implanting ions; subjecting the first portion of the process surface to a first ion implantation process to form a first doped region included in the substrate; forming an implant blocking layer including a material that is selectively etchable to the implant masking layer over the first portion of the process surface; removing the implant masking layer to expose a second portion of the process surface; and, subjecting the second portion of the process surface to a second ion implantation process to form a second doped region disposed adjacent to the first doped region thereby forming a doped region interface included in a twin well structure.
In related embodiments, the substrate includes a semiconductor to include one of silicon and gallium arsenide. Further, the implant masking layer includes one of silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, and polysilicon. Further yet, the implant blocking layer includes at least one of silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, polysilicon, and photoresist to exclude a material included in the implant masking layer.
In another embodiment, the substrate includes an isolation feature wherein the twin well structure is formed such that the isolation feature is centrally disposed over the doped region interface. Further, the isolation feature is formed by one of shallow trench isolation (STI), localized oxidation (LOCOS), and polybuffered LOCOS.
In yet another embodiment, the thickness of the implant blocking layer and implant masking layer is varied between about 150 nm and about 2000 nm.
In another embodiment, the substrate further includes at least one implant capping layer overlying the substrate to form the process surface. Further, the at least one implant capping layer is formed of a material that is selectively etchable to at least the implant masking layer. Further yet, the at least one implant capping layer thickness is varied between about 5 nm and about 50 nm.
These and other embodiments, aspects and features of the invention will be better understood from a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention which are further described below in conjunction with the accompanying Figures.